Washington Layoffs — May 2026
Employers in Washington logged 2 WARN Act notices in May 2026, involving roughly 49 workers — falling below April and down 98% versus May 2025. The average filing covered 24 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
Industry classification was not available for filings in Washington this month. A total of 49 workers were affected across 2 notices.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Pierce | 2 | 49 |
Pierce felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 100% of all affected workers with 49 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Lakewood | 1 | 44 |
| Sumner | 1 | 5 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 1 | 44 |
| Layoff | 1 | 5 |
The high proportion of closures (90% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Washington's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maersk | Lakewood | 44 | Closure | |
| Maersk | Sumner | 5 | Layoff |
The biggest impact was at Maersk at its Lakewood facility, reporting 44 affected workers. Maersk followed with 5 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.
This data points to a easing in workforce disruptions across Washington, with filings falling below both recent and year-ago levels.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.